Te Anau

22/01/12-24/01/12

An early morning saw me jumping back on the ferry to make the crossing to Bluff again. This time it was near empty so I was able to get a sit next to a window at the back of the craft. For the entire hour’s crossing I fixed my glaze on the horizon and thought about as much rubbish as I could to keep my mind off the rolling waves. It must have worked because as we came in to shore again I hadn’t had a repeat experience of my earlier crossing. Back on the south island I would now be heading north up the length of the west coast, my first destination was to be Te Anau located in the Fiordland area of New Zealand. I discovered my hostel was located right on the edge of the lake with the view of mountains dominating the surrounding shoreline. I made a brief visit to the main street to pick up supplies while later that night I took a stroll along the lake front to check out the scenery.

The next day I undertook a day hike up to the first hut on the Kelper trail. Starting off at my hostel I followed the lakefront round to the water control gates which act as the entrance to the national park. From here there was a brief stroll by the lakefront in the trees to the start of the 1000m climb up to the top of the mountain range where the hut was nested. The climb was a lot easier than I had expected it to be, it wasn’t too steep and ascended at a steady pace, and I was able to climb up without stops. On reaching the top I found you came out above the tree line to be treated to spectacular views of the surrounding ranges and lakes, it really was a pleasure to be able to see so far. During the winter months the track would be under snow as it is an alpine track. By the time I had reached the hut I found that it had only taken me 3 and a half hour to get here from my accommodation - a shock even to me! The hut is infamous for having the best views of any in New Zealand and I would have to agree as I looked down at the lake and mountains that surrounded it. After stopping off to grab lunch I took a quick diversion to explore the nearby cave system you can enter nearby, but after stepping down into the dark I decided not to adventure too far inside as the floor was very slippery and I was by myself. Turning back to make my way down I passed several of the groups I had passed on the way up once again, some looked like the climb had taken its toll. I too discovered that all the recent walking I had been doing had had a negative impact on my feet in the way of blisters which were on my heels and toes. Nearing home I was struggling to walk comfortably by the end, maybe my haste up the track hadn’t been a good idea.

With my feet patched up the best I could manage, the following day I once again took to the Kepler track to walk in the other direction to a place called Rainbow Reach. With my feet in a bad condition it was hard going and after walking for nearly two hours I had to give up, even when I was told I was less than half hour from my goal I still turned round and headed home, the first time I had failed to get to where I wanted. In was a perfect clear day and the view from Rainbow Reach would have been amazing but I was in too much discomfort to go on any further knowing that the pain would only get worse. I was disappointed in myself but sometimes you have to do the sensible thing, walking back though I did managed to find a gap in the trees to get down to the river front to chill out for several minutes.